Birds in Horticulture. 187 



The scarlet tanager is the most beautiful bird seen in the North. His 

 body is of the most brilliant scarlet. His preference is for woods and fields, 

 but sometimes he hovers near our towns and cities. His song is a whistle- 

 both strong and musical. 



The American goldfinch is a true wood warbler, known from the Arctic to 

 the Gulf. 



The wren frequents both country and town. It is a favorite everwhere. 

 Very little is known of its habits. A small box or hollow is the chosen place 

 for its nest. They are ever ready to accept a home with us if we prepare a 

 place for them — and they are very valuable birds for the garden. The song 

 is sweet and strong for so small a bird. It begins on a high, sharp key, then 

 suddenly falls to a sweet murmuring song that ascends again and ends with 

 a rapid trill. 



The fly-catcher pewee, or Phebe, is well known. It is a small, brown bird 

 that prefers solitude, or dark, shady places, where it repeats the song- " Phebe" 

 irom dawn to dark. Some writer has said: "So plainly expressive of sad- 

 ness is this pecviliar note, that it is difficult to believe that the little being 

 that utters it can be free from sorrow." 



Even winter, with its desolate ice and snow, is made more endurable and 

 pleasant by the bright and merry birds. Troops of cedar birds, titmice, 

 woodpeckers, snow birds, cross-bills, blue-jayp, snow buntings, pine finches, 

 red polls, and others, come among us at different times during the season. 

 All the varieties of woodpeckers, but one, winter in this latitude, I believe. 



The chickadee, or titmice, are well-known winter birds that come in flocks 

 during the cold weather, a pair of woodpeckers, called brown creepers, al- 

 ways accompanying them. The little chickadee chatters and sings in the 

 most happy manner, even though the cold be biting, and zero reigns around 

 him. The one we are most familiar with is the black-capped titmouse. 



Every winter we expect to entertain one of these little black-throated vis- 

 itors in our living rooms. He delights and entertains us with his cunning 

 ways all winter ; often, as we write, he will walk upon the jiaper, and perch 

 upon the inkstand, crack the hemp seed on the arm of the chair, and, while 

 hopping about on the table, sing and whistle right merrily. This dear little 

 creature is a stranger from a land almost unknown, and we know but little 

 of his haunts and habits. He weighs no more than an ounce, but he has as 

 much individuality as the mammoth elephant. Reason, or instinct, has taught 

 him to husband his food, for winter consumes rather than produces, and in 

 the folds of a curtain, behind a leaf, or in a book, choice bits of food are jire- 

 pared for the future. He holds the hemp seed firmly between his feet, and 

 pounds away until the shell is broken ; in this way he also cracks a hazel 

 nut. He eats no sweets, prefers butter, tallow and rich nuts, frolics in a pan 

 of snow, sings three songs, not strong but sweet, and whistles divinely; and 

 when evening comes his reason prompts him to creep for shelter and i)ro- 

 tection into a little hollow, or under a leaf, and then he hides his head under 

 his wing, in a bed of downy feathers, until morning. 



